Word to the Wise
Monday, December 28, 2015 - Dec. 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
[1 John 1:5-2:2 and Matt 2:13-18]MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2015 - THE FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS [1 John 1:5 – 2:2; Ps. 124:2-3, 4-5, 7-8; Matthew 2:13-16] After the Magi had left, the angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph with the command, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is searching for the child to destroy him.” Joseph got up and took the child his mother and left that night for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod. Although the focus of this feast has been on those children who perished as a result of Herod’s paranoid rage, there is an aspect that should capture our attention at the present time: the plight of all those immigrants from the Middle East, escaping the violence in Syria and Iraq. Many of them had to leave everything they had and escape very quickly because their locations would soon be overrun or bombed. The Holy Family could sympathize. The passage I have quoted from today’s gospel speaks of a sudden message of lethal danger. Joseph acts immediately and leaves that very same night for Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus. Since solitary travel would have been very dangerous, they may likely have joined other families escaping Herod’s murderous intentions. What would this have looked like? We have only to watch the news. At least they weren’t turned away at some border station. Given the impact of sudden uprooting and long travel and time in refugee camps on the children of the immigrants in the news, one might be justified in thinking of and praying for the Holy Innocents who are alive, as well as those who died (and continue to die in abortion and abuse.) This is a bigger feast than first appears. AMEN
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